Old English Wisdom

As well as my personal Twitter account, I run an account called Old English Wisdom, tweeting proverbs, maxims, and other miniature bits of wisdom and advice from Old English poetry and prose. Anglo-Saxon literature abounds in such pithy statements, ranging from wry proverbs about mead-drinking and money to practical advice about moderate behaviour, from a warrior's code of conduct to profound reflections on how one acquires wisdom and the benefits it can bring. I'm intrigued by how well this ancient tradition seems to work within the brand-new medium of Twitter, when they are (except in their fondness for brevity) almost exact opposites: Twitter thrives on the knee-jerk reaction and the swift reply, while wisdom literature is a genre which grows slowly, out of years, lifetimes, and centuries of human experience. But what medium and message have in common is the idea that something of value deserves to be shared: Gleawe men sceolon gieddum wrixlan, one poem famously says, 'Wise men should exchange sayings'.

The Anglo-Saxon wisdom tradition is rich, diverse, and multilingual (although I mostly post English texts, for practical reasons). Some of the texts I'm quoting from are dedicated collections of proverbs and maxims, in poetry or prose, while some are single instances from longer texts; some are translations or versions of Latin texts, others have no known source; some are paralleled in later medieval English proverbs, some in other languages such as Old Norse. Some are so culturally specific that they may seem to offer nothing more to a modern audience than a historical curiosity. But others have much to say about subjects which are timeless: friendship, love and family; the right and wrong ways to use speech, strength, skill or knowledge; how to teach and how to learn; the experience of grief, loneliness, joy, and companionship; the value of patience, self-restraint, loyalty, and a generous heart. They celebrate both the riches which can be learned from books and the wisdom which can be earned through the simple act of living.

The picture which serves as the face of this little project is a Victorian statue of Alfred the Great, from his birthplace at Wantage. I chose Alfred because he is closely associated, in history and legend, with teaching, translation, and the tradition of English 'wisdom': among his other achievements as king, Alfred arranged for the translation of - or perhaps even translated himself - a range of religious and philosophical texts into English, many of which have interesting things to say about how wisdom is to be gained and used. As Alfred's famous Preface to the Pastoral Care explains, he believed that learning in England had gone into serious decline in his own days, and that to restore it would be to repair the 'wealth and the wisdom' of the kingdom both together. As a result of these educational endeavours there was a great deal of myth-making about Alfred's wisdom, and by the end of the Anglo-Saxon period he was already regarded as an image of the wise king, that ever-potent symbol. His very name prepared him to be an expert in ræd ('counsel, advice'), and later in the medieval period he was spuriously credited as the author of a collection of proverbs, cited in texts like The Owl and the Nightingale as an impeccably wise authority, England's own Solomon. So although he's responsible for only a few of the texts I'm tweeting about, he makes an apt figurehead for it.

This page serves a practical function (providing fuller sources than is possible on Twitter, and listing the hashtags I've chosen) but will also serve as a growing archive of the quotations I've posted. Although sources are indicated where relevant, all translations are my own.

Durham Proverbs

This is a collection of forty-six proverbs in Durham Cathedral, MS B. III. 32, where they appear in both English and Latin versions. They are edited in Olof Arngart, 'The Durham Proverbs', Speculum 56:2 (1981), 288-300.

(1) Geþyld byþ middes eades.
Patience is half of happiness.

(2) Freond deah feor ge neah; byð near nyttra.
A friend is useful, far or near; the nearer the better.

(3) Æt þearfe mann sceal freonda to cunnian.
In time of need, a man finds out his friends.

(4) Nafað ænig mann freonda to fela.
No one can have too many friends.

(5) Beforan his freonde biddeþ, se þe his wædle mæneþ.
He who bemoans his poverty should seek help from his friends.

(6) God ger byþ þonne se hund þam hrefne gyfeð.
It's a good year when the dog gives to the raven.

So this earth declines and falls, every single day;
And so a man cannot become wise
before he has his share of winters in the world. A wise person should be patient,
should not be too hot-hearted, nor too hasty with words,
neither too weak a warrior, nor too reckless,
neither too fearful, nor too quick to rejoice, nor too greedy,
nor ever too eager to boast before he knows for sure.

Hwær cwom mearg? Hwær cwom mago? Hwær cwom maþþumgyfa? (92)
Where is now the horse? Where the young prince? Where the treasure-giver?

Precepts

A poem from the Exeter Book, framed as advice from a wise father to his son. For the text of this poem, Maxims I and II, and Solomon and Saturn II, see T. A. Shippey, Poems of Wisdom and Learning in Old English (Cambridge, 1976).

Wene þec þy betran,
efn elne þis a þenden þu lifge. (7-8)
Train yourself for the better way, ever with courage as long as you live.

(5) Ne flit ðu wið anwilne monn, ne wið oferspræcne; manegum menn is forgifen ðæt he spræcan mæg, swiðe feawum þæt he seo gesceadwis.
Don't argue with a stubborn person, or one who talks too much; many have the power of speech; very few of wisdom.

(8) Sprec ofter embe oðres monnes weldæde þonne emb ðine agna.
Speak more often about other people’s good deeds than about your own.

(12) Ne hopa ðu to oþres monnes deaðe; uncuð hwa lengest libbe.
Do not hope for another man's death; it is unknown who will live longest.

(13) Đeah þe earm friond lytel sylle, nim hit to miccles þances.
Though a poor friend may give you little, take it with great thanks.

(18) Gif ðu bearn hæbbe, lær þa cræftes, þæt hie mægen be þon libban... Cræft bið bætera þonne æht.
If you have children, teach them a skill, so they can live by it... A skill is better than possessions.

A sceal snotor hycgean
ymb þysse worulde gewinn. (54-5)
A wise person should always be thinking about this world's strife.

Is seo forðgesceaft
digol and dyrne; drihten ana wat. (61-2)
The course of the future is hidden and secret; God alone knows.

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (#ASChronicle)

Đonne se heretoga wacað þonne bið eall se here swiðe gehindred.
When the general weakens, the whole army is greatly hindered.
(A proverb quoted in the entry for 1003 in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle (MS. E), in reference to the cowardly ealdorman Ælfric.)

Wurðe ðe god se ende þonne God wylle.
May the end be good, when God wills.
(A comment in the entry for 1066 in MS. D, in reference to the Norman Conquest.)

Þu scealt gelome gelæran and tæcan. (75)
You should be often teaching and instructing.

Onlær þinum bearne bysne goda,
and eac swa some eallum leoda. (79-80)
Teach your child by good example, and all people likewise.

[Leornunge] geeadmodað eghwylcne kyng,
swilce þone earman eac aræreð
and þa saula swa some geclensað
and þæt mod gedeþ mycle ðe bliðre.
And heo eac æþelne gedeð þone ðe ær ne wæs;
eac heo þrah-mælum þeowne gefreolsað. (87-92)
Learning humbles every king;
so too she raises up the poor,
and souls she cleanses,
and makes the mind much the happier;
and she makes a man noble who was not so before,
and many times she sets the handmaid free.

Se ðe ear gifeð and eft oftihð...
bysmer he gewyrceð. (96-7)
He who gives and takes it back again does a shameful thing.

Nis þæt þearfan hand þæt ðe þince her,
ac hit is madmceoste Godes. (188-9)
What seems to you a beggar's hand is God's treasure-chest. (Literally: 'that is not a beggar's hand, which appears to be so to you here; rather it is the treasure-chest of God.)

Hafa ðu geleafa to lifes frumon;
gewuna þar ðu wunodest. (209-10)
Have faith in the creator of life; dwell where you have dwelt.

Wisdom is leoht wera æghwilcum
to habbanne her on weoruldæ.
Hit sceal beon onæled mid eadmodnesse. (229-231)
Wisdom is a light for everyone to have here in this world; it must be kindled by humility.

Ne scealt þu dysilice sprecan...
ymban ænigne eorðbuendra. (241-2)
You should not speak foolishly about any dweller on earth.